Best PayPal Alternatives

PayPal is far from the only option when it comes to receiving money and sending payments online, but it’s the most well-known and reliable of them all. PayPal fees are generally reasonable, too, but if you’re looking for a more affordable alternative, these 20 best PayPal alternatives should be able to help you out. We’ve listed them in no particular order – just scroll down and pick the one that best fits your business and personal needs!

Recent Changes To PayPal For Merchants

Recently, PayPal made a number of big changes to its platform. Most notably, they raised their minimum payout to $1000 and increased their fees. These changes effectively make it impossible for small businesses to use PayPal unless they have a very high volume of transactions or don’t mind making less than 1% on each sale. 

For example, if you were selling T-shirts on your site and each one cost $20 (the average industry markup), you would need at least 200 sales before exceeding PayPal’s 10% fee and reaching your minimum payout threshold. No matter how much money you take in from that point forward, PayPal would keep 9% of everything until you hit $1k—making any realistic commission more than 90 days away. By comparison, other payment platforms can often handle smaller payouts for only 3%-5%. 

If you want to use PayPal but avoid giving them all your profits every month, now is a good time to switch providers.

Do You Need An Alternative To PayPal?

There’s never been a better time to invest in alternative payment methods. The ubiquity of mobile technology has opened up doors for smaller companies that were previously locked out of a tightly-controlled industry. More people than ever before are shopping online, and are increasingly looking for ways to save money on their purchases. 

As your customers grow increasingly concerned with cost, it becomes more important than ever to offer alternative payment methods that fit their needs. This buyer’s guide will help you get started finding an alternative to PayPal, so you can start offering more options without breaking your budget or losing your shirt!

How To Compare & Find The Best Alternatives To PayPal

Though it’s certainly true that not all e-commerce merchants have success stories with PayPal, it’s also important to note that there are several excellent alternative payment options available today. Although these alternatives can seem to be very similar in functionality and even appearance, there are actually several factors you should consider before jumping ship from one provider to another. 

Here are some factors we took into account when making our list of best alternatives to Paypal: 

1. How much do they charge? This is probably one of your biggest concerns when looking for an alternative to Paypal or any other merchant account service. If a merchant account provider is going to cost you more than your previous provider, why bother switching? Fortunately, there are plenty of solid alternatives that charge less than PayPal, and some that even offer their services completely free (in exchange for certain transaction fees). Many providers are even able to waive fees if you meet a certain threshold each month ($5k/month in transactions, for example).
    
2. How long do they take to get me set up? Ideally, you’ll be able to start accepting payments immediately after you sign up for a merchant account service, whether that’s through an online application or by calling customer support. It’s much better to get your business live on day one than it is to spend days (or even weeks) waiting for your new merchant account provider to make you their highest priority—especially if your customers are already trying to reach you and can’t because you’re not processing any transactions! 
    
3. Transaction fees: transaction fees are a big part of any merchant account provider, but they’re also one of the most important factors to consider when looking for a new service. The reason? You don’t want to start out paying a lot more in transaction fees than you were before! Fortunately, there are plenty of solid alternatives that charge far less than Paypal did in its early days—and sometimes even offer free accounts (in exchange for a certain transaction or monthly fees). 
    
4. Integrations: Getting set up with a new merchant account provider can be time-consuming, so you’ll want to make sure they offer everything you need. Thankfully, most of our best alternatives to Paypal have everything you could need—in fact, we can think of only two services on our list that don’t offer at least an online shopping cart!

What’s The Best PayPal Alternative For My Business?

It’s an interesting question that lots of business owners ask, but not enough to take action on. Unfortunately, many people are scared off by long sign-up processes and a lack of transparency from some platforms. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of your options when it comes to finding a PayPal alternative for your business: Stripe is one option you should definitely consider when looking for a good PayPal alternative. 

Stripe is often called the younger brother of PayPal because it was created by some ex-PayPal employees who have used their expertise to build an easy-to-use platform. Simply put, Stripe makes it possible for online sellers to collect payments instantly with just a few lines of code. 

What’s best about Stripe is its free toolkit, which includes libraries and SDKs so you can use their services directly within third-party apps or sites. As far as fees go, there’s really nothing negative we can say about Stripe — fees are very reasonable (2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge) and you can even apply for $5M worth of funding through them if necessary. Of course, they don’t offer as much as PayPal (no instant transfer), but overall we think they’re an excellent option if you’re looking for something similar that allows fast growth!

The 20 Best Alternatives To PayPal For Payment Processing

Here are our picks for the best alternative to PayPal payment processing in 2022. If you want to get rid of Paypal, these are some good alternatives you might want to consider. We also list out all their pro and cons but feel free to contact us if you think we’ve missed any important details. Enjoy! 

 

Square

A payment processor aimed at small businesses. Customers can swipe their credit cards through Square’s reader, which is either connected to a mobile device or plugged into a laptop. Square charges 2.75% per swipe plus $0.15 and allows sellers to pay with cash if they don’t have a card on hand. The company also works with popular accounting software providers like QuickBooks, Xero, and Freshbooks so sellers can automate their financial records to make tax time easier.

 

Wise (Formerly TransferWise)

This app/website allows users to quickly and easily transfer money between accounts. Wise also has an app, so people can easily manage their finances on the go. The interface is simple and easy to use, and I was able to find exactly what I was looking for (transferring funds) in under 30 seconds. Great for those who don’t want to be bothered with transferring funds at all! 

 

Payoneer

While many online business owners have trouble accepting payments from international clients, Payoneer can help. This e-wallet allows users to receive money from any of 200 countries and withdraw funds via a local bank account or check. Transaction fees vary by country. Payments arrive in 10 minutes, with no chargebacks or monthly fees. The only downsides are small funding caps ($2,500 per month) and limited payment options (about 30). Still, it’s a great choice for online freelancers who work with international clients. Sign up here.

 

Stripe

If you're building a business and want to collect payments, accepting credit cards is a no-brainer. However, it’s become increasingly difficult to use PayPal to receive money. So where should you go? Stripe—one of our favorite payment processing systems that accepts any credit card—is our top pick. Stripe takes care of accepting payments from customers and transferring money into your account. It's really as simple as that! Sign up with them here. 

 

Klarna

If you’re looking to accept payments in more than 100 countries, and you don’t want to build your own checkout, Klarna is one of your best options. Like PayPal, you can use Klarna to set up an account where customers pay on an invoice-by-invoice basis. You can also choose from multiple product options—credit payments, direct debits, prepaid cards, and more. The downside? For now, at least, they only support two currencies: USD and EUR. And not every seller will be approved to use their service. They do require a bit more information upfront; once approved, however, it’s free forever with no transaction fees.

 

TransferGo

A UK-based startup and a revolutionary money transfer provider which is headquartered in London, England. Founded in 2012, it has reached more than 500,000 customers. The company specializes in providing users with real-time overseas transactions at transparent fees of 0.3% plus a £0.05 or €0.08 per GBP or EUR respectively (minimum fee £1). Moreover, they use their TransferGo wallets to offer instant payments to bank accounts held in over 130 countries around the world within 1 hour. Through integrating with other payment providers as well as local banks, they also provide money transfers at flat rates and zero currency exchange commission; making international remittances easy and fast compared to other competitors on both desktop and mobile devices!

 

WorldRemit

This global transfer service offers both mobile and desktop apps that are intuitive to use. You can send money directly to a bank account or family and friends’ mobile wallets, withdraw cash at an ATM with their pre-paid card, or pay bills. WorldRemit is available in 190 countries including all major markets across Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America, and Latin America. The fee ranges from 0%-3% of your remittance (maximum $2 per transaction). Transfers can be sent as little as $20 and currencies include USD, GBP, EUR, and more.

 

Instarem 

Offers instant payments and online transfers. For example, it can be used to pay for a product at checkout before shipping is complete (similar to Amazon One-Click). It is designed as an alternative to credit cards and has low transaction fees. However, it isn’t yet available in most countries outside of Europe.

 

WorldFirst

If you’re looking to transfer money abroad or make payments in a currency other than your own, WorldFirst is one of your best options. For example, if you need to make payment in British pounds or euro, you can visit their website and log into your account. The process can be quick and easy as long as you have all of your information—your sender and recipient's email addresses, their bank account details—ready before going online. 

WorldFirst is free to sign up for; however, they do charge fees of 0.5% per transaction plus 5 GBP per transaction once there are more than 10 transactions in a month. It’s not cheap but it’s competitive with similar services out there.

 

XE

It’s a very easy-to-use and affordable platform that is especially suited for international business. I’ve used it in a few different countries now, and XE always makes sure my money is quickly available wherever I am. It offers both web and mobile versions, so you can manage your accounts and transfers from anywhere! The company has over ten years of experience under its belt and has been featured in some big publications such as Techcrunch and VentureBeat. That certainly gives me some peace of mind about their trustworthiness. As far as fees go, they’re quite reasonable – at 1%.

 

FairFX

Send money overseas, earn reward points and get a better exchange rate. Account-holders can save money by managing their online finances, paying bills, and transferring cash to friends or family via a single account. Customer service is available 24/7 via phone, email, or social media to help users with any queries they may have. 

FairFX also provides free foreign currency when you make a purchase through its website and charges no fees when you withdraw cash at one of its partner banks around the world. The company guarantees it will beat any bank’s exchange rate. To make an international transfer, visit FairFX now.

 

Foreign Currency Direct

If you are an online trader or run a business that deals with foreign currencies, Foreign Currency Direct could be a valuable addition to your operations. This relatively new service is designed specifically for companies engaged in currency-related operations and it allows you to pay other businesses using bank transfers or through your existing Paypal account. Read more about how Foreign Currency Direct works here.

 

Capitalist

Capitalist is a free online invoicing, expense management, and time tracking software. With Capitalist you can create estimates and invoices that are sent to your clients via email (as Word documents or PDFs). You can track time spent on projects and manage expenses in one central location. It has integrations with Xero, Stripe, Paypal, and Google Apps among others. 

 

Gimi

It is a one-stop shop that allows you to accept money and make payments from users around the world in more than 200 currencies. Gimi also has excellent support and is known for providing comprehensive training so its users can get comfortable with it quickly. Additionally, Gimi uses a currency conversion system that allows sellers to track profit in real-time and protect themselves against market fluctuations by hedging their profits. 

This feature is unique, as most payment services do not offer that type of tracking for sellers. Overall, it’s a good choice if you are looking to accept payments internationally or work with US customers who require international account numbers (which some card issuers only provide).

 

Glint Pay

Glint is a cloud-based application that will integrate with your current CRM and ERP platforms. The software provides an excellent inventory tracking system, extensive shipping integration, and flexible taxes. With three-tiered pricing levels based on usage, Glint offers a low-cost option at $30 per month with unlimited users as well as a higher-end level at $300 per month. And while they offer SaaS solutions, Glint’s mobile app allows you to check up on your business from anywhere. As their name suggests, Glint is likely to be your future source of payment.

 

Caxton

While eBay’s payments subsidiary is best known as a processing service, it also offers an online payment solution. Caxton supports several different currencies and has many of its own benefits. The downsides are that fees are higher than some other options and there is no support for recurring payments (e.g., subscriptions). However, with flexibility and ease of use, it might be worth checking out.

 

Valyuz

With Valyuz, it’s easy to start a business and get paid. To become a merchant simply sign up with your Facebook account, verify your identity and link a bank account. It’s 100% free to accept online payments from customers, with no monthly fees. Recurring payments are also free. You set your own prices, define transaction limits per customer or create exclusive VIP packages as you wish.

 

Travelex

This new mobile wallet app from Travelex is designed to help your everyday expenses abroad—and it’s a great alternative to paying with cash or, worse, getting stuck in an ATM line. Using Travelex, you can load up your card with either pounds or dollars before you travel and then conveniently spend what you need abroad by tapping your phone to a contactless terminal at restaurants, shops, and hotels.

The clever app lets you pay for goods that support American Express Contactless payments, which include hotel check-ins and parking fees in some cities. Another perk: travelers get foreign exchange rates that are better than what they’d find with most banks. What's more, funds are FDIC-insured up to $250,000.

Benefits of online payment apps

The biggest advantage of online payment apps is that you don’t have to wait for a money transfer to clear. You can also access your funds quickly and pay anyone, anywhere at any time using your smartphone. This means you could make a payment before meeting someone or sending money to family overseas within minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Some online payment apps charge lower fees than PayPal or take fewer days to process transactions too! It all depends on which one you choose and how much information you need (and provide) when opening an account. For example, if your business operates internationally then maybe PayPal isn’t right for you. However, if it allows multiple currency accounts and/or country-specific websites then it may be a better option. 

If a relatively large sum is transferred each month then perhaps you should consider something like Square instead, which has no fee for certain amounts transferred; only with certain business types does it start to change anything significant, whereas most online payment apps won’t charge at all. 

One last thing: Of course, we’re not recommending other services based on their fee structures alone; we recommend services by their simplicity (for both senders & receivers), convenience, and safety; whichever app/service best provides these will naturally win our approval!

In conclusion

To sum up, we have been looking at the 20 best alternatives to Paypal, and it is clear now that most of them offer basic services such as invoicing, payment forms, and POS. Some of them may be suitable for specific situations when standard functionality can’t meet business needs. 

On the other hand, if you are a corporate client with special requirements (taxation compliance, advanced reporting, or other financial services), take some time to look through full feature sets offered by your merchant service provider and make sure they provide all necessary tools you might need in upcoming years. Hopefully, our review has made things clearer! 

For a more in-depth analysis of the EMI industry, make sure to check our AskWallet blog post section.